Glimpse | Local Man makes a Jeopardy Run

Rob Reid |

Michael Tvaruzka
 
Michael Tvaruzka. In red. Obviously.

Though he racked up $15,200 during the game, Eau Clarian Michael Tvaruzka finished in third place during his Jeopardy! appearance on April 4. The 43-year-old Stout research specialist employee got on the show through 50-question online contests that led to in-person auditions in Chicago and Kansas City. More than 400,000 people took those contests online, and about 400 were chosen to be on the show over the course of a year. His show was taped in mid-December, and he had to be quiet about his results until it aired, when he watched it at Log Jam in Menomonie with nearly a hundred others. He ended up taking home $1,000 (standard for third place), but what we really wanted to know is what Alex Trebek is like. “The first time we saw him was when they announced his name and he walked on stage,” Tvaruzka began. “As soon as the show was finished, he left. He did talk to us during commercial breaks. I got my picture taken with him at that point. When he walked away, I called out ‘Hey, where’s my wallet?’ That got a laugh from everyone. Trebek turned around and said no one had pulled that on him before.”